


Hidden Happiness

by royal_taejo1230



Category: NCT (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Drag Queens, Angst, Drag Queens, Established Relationship, Eventual Relationships, Explicit Language, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-10-19 13:32:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17602298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/royal_taejo1230/pseuds/royal_taejo1230
Summary: Joshua, Taeyong, and Ten are roommates, who are also Drag Queens. This story follows them and their friends as they try to navigate through life and love, while trying to juggle jobs, family obligations, and grad school. Will they be able to find their hidden happiness?





	1. There Goes My Eyebrow

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm glad you decided to check out this story. It was originally posted as Spotlight. I edited the story with the help of my editor, Jax. Check them out at madd-men.tumblr.com!!!! I hope y'all enjoy the story.

Joshua sat on the ground in front of his standing mirror and held his breath as he lifted the eyebrow pencil to his face. After watching multiple makeup tutorials, he felt ready to test out a new eyebrow look. He made sure to keep his hand steady as he started on the first eyebrow and used soft strokes to fill in the brow before going back and darkening it. Once finished, he looked in the mirror, satisfied. 

Focusing on the other brow, he started the same process and was fixing the arch when his bedroom door flew open and hit him. The force of the door caused his hand to fly up and leave a streak across from his eyebrow to his forehead.

Joshua whipped around to see the culprit and ahead of dark hair peeked around the door and his roommate, Ten, stepped into the room and winced at the damage.

“Sorry,” Ten said apologetically. Joshua rose from the floor and grabbed a makeup wipe from his desk. He scrubbed away the mark on his forehead before speaking to Ten. 

“What do you want? I was so close to getting good eyebrows.” Joshua said. He wanted to pick up the closest object and throw it at Ten’s face. He’d spent 20 minutes on his eyebrows only for them to be messed up. 

“Your eyebrows are fine the way they are.” Ten said before throwing himself onto Joshua’s unmade bed and watched as his roommate moved around the room. 

“I'll ask again. What do you want?” Joshua asked. 

“I'm bored,” Ten sighed dramatically 

“Well find something to do. I have to try fixing my eyebrows since you messed them up,” Joshua snapped back 

“And like I said, I’m sorry about that, but I have something small I want to do. It involves you,” said Ten with a smirk, causing Joshua to sigh. Ten’s ideas were never small. 

“What is it? If it's going to that coffee shop and waiting for the manager you think is cute to show up, then I'm out.” Joshua said and Ten rolled his eyes. 

“No, I want to use your face for YouTube views. I have a bunch of makeup my viewers sent me and I want to test it out, but it's too much for just me,” Ten explained. Joshua considered it. 

“What do I get out of it?” Joshua knew this plan would suck a few hours out of his day. He might as well gain something from it. 

“You get to spend time with your favorite roommate,” Ten said as he pointed at himself, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. 

“I don't see Taeyong here,” Joshua replied as he looked around the room for their other roommate. Ten rolled his eyes while Joshua laughed. “I guess I’ll help you since I don’t have anything else to do.” Ten jumped off of the bed with a cheer before running out of the room. 

Joshua started out of the room when Ten stumbled back in with his tripod and ring light. 

“Why are we filming in here?” Joshua asked, stepping backward as he watched Ten set up his equipment in front of Joshua’s bed. 

“I didn’t feel like cleaning up my room,” Ten flippantly tossed over his shoulder before leaving the room again. While Ten gathered supplies, Joshua fixed his bed and tried to make it look decent. The black-haired beauty guru walked back into the room holding a box, dropping it onto Joshua’s desk before rummaging through its contents and examining his PR packages.

“So what I am really getting out of this?” Joshua questioned. 

“You can get the satisfaction of helping a dear friend,” Ten helpfully replied without looking away from the box. Joshua rolled his eyes. “I’m kidding. You can keep whatever you like from this stuff,” Ten said, gesturing to the box filled with beauty products.

“I guess that’s proper compensation,” Joshua said, considering the offer. Ten shoved his roommate before plugging in the light and camera. 

Joshua sat on his bed and watched as Ten adjusted the camera and the brightness of the light. Ten walked around the room pushing clothes out of the way and fixing the bed. He grabbed Joshua by the arm and dragged him to the end of the bed and positioned him before walking to his camera. The smaller boy kept shifting Joshua’s position before settling on a camera angle. 

“Now we can start,” Ten said as he turned on the camera, a bright smile plastered itself on Ten's face. Joshua knew Ten emphasized certain parts of his personality for his viewers, but it always fascinated Joshua to watch as Ten flipped the switch from his everyday self to his YouTube persona. “Hello everyone! Today I'm going to be doing something that you guys have been requesting nonstop!” 

Ten lifted the box of makeup off of the ground and showed it to the camera. 

“I'll be testing out some of the makeup I've received from all of you guys!. In addition, I have a special guest since I can't test all this out by myself,” Ten said as he gestured to Joshua. Joshua waved into the camera with a smile. “I….drumroll please... have gotten Joshua back on my channel.”

“ He bribed me,” Joshua said with a straight face and Ten glared at him playfully. 

“Shush. Let's get started.” 

\----------

Joshua and Ten sat in front of the camera for three hours testing out various products. 

“This box is bottomless…just like my future boyfriend right now,” Ten said with a suggestive smile before swiping lipstick on to his lips. 

Joshua rolled his eyes at his roommate’s joke. Their arms were covered in swatches of eyeshadow and foundation, while their lips were red from wiping off various lip products.

“I don't think my skin can take this anymore,” Joshua sighed as he scrubbed another eyeliner off of his face. 

“I think we’re gonna call it quits for today. A lot of the things we tested were nice and I’m glad to have such amazing viewers to send us so much product. I’ll see you guys later. Buh-bye.” Ten said. Both boys waved until Ten got up and turned off the camera.

“Have fun editing this,” Joshua said as he picked out the products he wanted to keep and put them on his desk. Ten grabbed the rest of the products and put them back in the box. “And don’t forget to save some for Taeyong.”

Joshua helped Ten bring his equipment back to his room and obeyed as Ten instructed him to put the lights in the corner. Joshua looked around the room and could see why Ten didn’t want to film in his own room. Not to be rude, but it was a hot mess, with makeup and fanmail scattered everywhere and wigs and liquid latex found on various random furniture around the room. Piles of laundry, clean indistinguishable from dirty, covered the floor and made walking hazardous to his health. Joshua left the younger boy’s room, merely wrinkling his nose at the state of his room, neglecting to comment, and walked to the bathroom. His face felt caked with makeup and his arms filled with swatches of products. Getting it off of his body felt like a much more pressing matter than chastising Ten on his disorganization. 

Joshua cleaned as much makeup off of him as possible, some of it wanting to stain, much to his annoyance, and felt like a new person afterward. He went back into his room and scrolled through his phone before remembering he had an assignment due. Grabbing his laptop, he opened the unfinished document and got to work.

Joshua was typing the last paragraph when someone knocked on his door. He didn’t look up from his computer as he called them in.

“You could have told me you were busy,” Joshua looked up and saw their other roommate, Taeyong, standing at the end of the bed.

“I’m almost done. What did you need?” Taeyong sat on the bed before speaking.

“I’ve told you about Jungwoo, right?” Taeyong went a bit red as he gushed excitedly about the adorable student in the class he was a TA for. “Well, he’s doing his first drag performance tonight at Hidden Happiness. He invited me and I wanted to see if you wanted to go, but you seem busy.” 

“I’m almost finished with this, so I can go,”  Joshua answered.

“Alright, well we’re heading out at eight, so be ready by seven forty-five,” Taeyong said before leaving the room.

Joshua went back to working on his paper while keeping an eye on the time. He could hear Ten and Taeyong moving around the apartment as they got ready to go out, but Joshua didn’t put the finishing touches on his paper until ten minutes before they left.

He grabbed a pair of jeans and threw a sweater over his t-shirt, grabbing his wallet and phone before casually strolling out of his room. Ten and Taeyong were sitting on the couch scrolling through their phones.

“The prince finally graces us with his presence,” Ten said teasingly. The two stood from the couch and they left the apartment heading to the nearest subway station.

“Why didn’t we get an Uber?” Ten whined once they arrived

“You should have worn practical shoes,” Taeyong told Ten as he glanced down at his shiny loafers.

“Also none of us have the money to take an Uber to Hidden Happiness from our apartment,” Joshua said as they swiped their subway passes, making their way through the underground building as their playful banter continued

“Says the boy that has his sugar daddy paying for grad school.” Ten teased and Joshua shoved his friend.

“I don’t have a sugar daddy! I received a scholarship from a generous benefactor.” Joshua said defensively. 

“He saw you and was struck by your beauty. How else was he supposed to keep you around? Is he still trying to get you to go to dinner with him and his ‘colleagues’?” Ten made finger quotes when he said, colleagues.

“Joshua wouldn’t know. He blocked his number.” Taeyong revealed casually and Ten gasped.

“I didn’t think you had it in you, Joshua. Get the money and run. I respect that.” The three laughed as they waited for the subway.

When they reached the bar, they saw the line of people waiting to get in and decided to use their connections to get in. They walked up to the front of the line and greeted the bouncer.

“Hey Dominic,” Ten said with a smile.

“What are you guys doing here? I didn’t think you were performing tonight,” The tall man said in a gruff voice.

“We’re here to see a friend who’s performing tonight,” Taeyong answered. “So could you let us in?” Taeyong gave him pleading look. Dominic turned away and waved them through. 

“You’re the best, Dom,” Joshua answered as he and his friends rushed into the bar.

Behind the bar stood Yuta, a friend of theirs who was a Japanese law student that needed money and could whip up a pretty damn good drink. Ten called him over.

“Didn’t think I’d be seeing you guys in here tonight,” Yuta said with a smirk. Yuta had started working at the bar around the same time the 3 roommates started performing. 

“Taeyong’s student is putting on a show tonight,” Ten explained.

“It’s a good night. A lot of fresh meat tonight hoping to become a regular.” Yuta said as he stirred the three cocktails. He placed the drinks in front of them when he finished and turned away to help other customers, but not before calling out well wishes over his shoulder “Enjoy the show!” Joshua stuffed a tip into the jar stationed in the corner of the bar and the boys made their way to an open table near the side of the stage. Just before he sat down, Taeyong’s phone went off. He pulled it from his pocket and sighed.

“I’ll be right back. Jungwoo said he can’t go on stage.” Taeyong said, a worried look on his face. Joshua and Ten nodded in understanding. They all knew what it felt like to go on stage in drag for the first time. Joshua’s hands started sweating at the memory of his first performance. He remembered almost running off stage. He had spent two weeks choreographing his performance for his first show and he still forgot a section of the dance. The minute the song ended, he ran into the bathroom and cried. Joshua couldn’t believe he somehow became a regular after that dismal showing

“I was such a mess before my first show,” Ten said, nodding sympathetically. “I went on stage tipsy, but somehow I did a decent job.”

“Taeyong burst into tears on stage his first performance,” Joshua recalled. “How did any of us even manage to become regulars on stage here?”

“I still think it’s because we’re cute,” Ten said with a grin. 

“Our looks could have gotten us into worse places,” Joshua commented before taking a sip from his drink.

“I considered becoming a stripper to pay for college,” Ten added with a laugh.

“What college student hasn’t thought about becoming a stripper to pay for school?” Joshua replied casually. They sat at the table talking as they waited for Taeyong to come back and for the show to start.

Joshua couldn’t wait to see what the queens performing had to offer. Hidden Happiness’ roster needed new faces.


	2. Fresh Meat Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!!!!!!

Taeyong did not think he would spend his night out trying to find a crying friend. Leaving behind his roommates and walking to the back of the bar, he typed in the code to get into the door that led to the backstage area. In the haze of hairspray, perfume, and setting spray blanketing the air, Taeyong walked down the hall and peeked into the dressing rooms, one by one, to see if he could find Jungwoo.

“Has anyone seen this guy?” Taeyong asked as he showed people a picture of Jungwoo. He felt like a frantic mother looking for her missing son. The boy in the picture had dark brown hair with soft, downturned brown eyes. Some performers looked at the picture and pointed to one of the other dressing rooms. Taeyong thanked and walked into the other dressing room, seeing a small group of people huddled around someone sitting. 

It was Jungwoo. Drag queens in various states of dress surrounded Jungwoo, who at this point, only had on his makeup. Taeyong pushed through the people and tried to disperse the surrounding crowd.

Once he’d managed to shoo off most of the people and get some alone time with the other boy, he grabbed a tissue and dabbed away Jungwoo’s tears, trying his best not to smudge Jungwoo’s makeup. Taeyong knew from experience how long it took to get makeup just right especially knowing how hard Jungwoo could be on himself and it sparked a need to protect him.

“Why aren’t you performing tonight?” Taeyong asked. Jungwoo took a shaky breath before answering.

“Everything is going wrong and I’m just gonna embarrass myself on stage,” Jungwoo replied, his voice wavering as tears returned to his eyes.

“How is everything going wrong?” Taeyong’s voice was soft and soothing as he tried to calm his friend.

“I packed the wrong eyebrow gel, and I overdrew my lips and everything is falling apart,” Jungwoo replied, sounding slightly out of breath and panicky. Taeyong looked over Jungwoo’s face and saw nothing wrong.

“Take a deep breath. Everything will be okay,” Taeyong said, as he rubbed Jungwoo’s back. “Your eyebrows look fine and the lips are great. And I’ve seen your performance, they won’t be able to breathe after what you show them.”

“Maybe I should just try again at a different time...” Jungwoo said as he tried to stand up. Taeyong pushed him back into the chair and held him down.

“You can do this and you will be great. It will blow away the audience.” Unfortunately, Jungwoo didn’t look like he believed Taeyong’s words. “Let me tell you about my first performance,” Taeyong said as he released Jungwoo. 

“You probably did amazing,” Jungwoo mumbled with a pout. Taeyong gave a bitter smile before speaking again.

“My performance was far from amazing. I’d been practicing my routine for a month and I had the outfit laid out and the makeup perfected, but the minute I stepped onto the stage, my heart fell into my feet and I burst into tears. I hadn’t ever performed before. The best part is I kept going while tears fell down my face.”

“I don’t think I could have continued,” Jungwoo said, laughing a little bit. ‘I would have literally died.”

“Well right now, you’re doing better than I did. At least you’re crying in private and not in the middle of the stage in front of people,” Taeyong joked. “I’ll be in the crowd cheering for you.”

“Guess I can try,” Jungwoo said.

“I’ll help you finish getting ready,” Taeyong said as he grabbed the wig sitting on the counter. He brushed it quickly before helping Jungwoo put it on. 

\----------

Taeyong left Jungwoo in the dressing room after one final pep talk. Making his way back to the table with his roommates, he sat and sipped on his watered down drink.

“What happened?” Ten asked curiously, a hint of worry in his voice.

“Just pre-show nerves. Everything is under control now.” Taeyong said, shushing him as the lights dimmed. The crowd gave a brief shout as the stage lights turned on and a thumping house beat played over the speakers. A cloaked figure appeared from the side of the stage in a cloud of smoke and glitter.

“Are you guys ready to see some amazing performances tonight?!?” They shouted with enthusiasm into the mic.  

“Yes!” The crowd screamed and cheered in response.

“Well, you’re in for a treat, but first let me get you guys ready for what’s in store. I am your MC for the night, Hope Fall.” The cloak fell away and Hope Fall stood in all her glory. Her red wig glittered under the stage lights as she strutted down the runway to the bumping beat of her intro music. At the foot of the stage, she looked over the crowd with a smirk before winking and turning away.

Hope shook her hips to the beat and rolled her body, before falling to the ground in a split and the crowd erupted into cheers. She moved onto her hands and knees, popping her butt, before crawling down the stage sensually. As the grand finale, she sashayed to the main stage and posed as confetti fell around her.

Hope strutted off stage, teasing the audience with the promise of more to come, before returning with a microphone.

“I hope that performance got everyone excited for the night! I would like to welcome everyone to our Rookie Night. You may be wondering what is Rookie Night. Tonight is the night a few lucky drag princesses finally become drag queens,” Hope Fall explained. The crowd cheered before she continued, “At the end of the night, our panel of hidden judges will decide which four performers we will add to the Hidden Happiness roster.”

“I wonder who the judges are,” Ten murmured, looking around the room suspiciously.

“They’re called hidden judges for a reason,” Joshua replied with an eye roll.

“Our first performer of the night is Cherish Er,“ Hope said before walking off stage. The stage lights lowered as the familiar start to Toxic began. Ten gave a loud sigh. Joshua elbowed him.

“She’s one of Cory’s proteges,” Ten whispered. “I saw them together on Instagram and he’s been hyping her to be the best thing but Toxic is so overdone,” Cory or Hayden Treasure, his drag name, was always at odds with the roommates. He hadn’t always been such a problem. They all started performing around the same time and they hit it off. They would have gone as far to say Cory was a friend of theirs. However, that all changed one day when they learned that Cory had been using them as a “source of inspiration” his words not theirs. He used dance routines they’d made and practiced around him. He even went as far as copying some of the costumes they drew. Things came to a head when Ten and Cory got into a physical fight. Now, spent his time walking around in gaudy designer clothes with his nose stuck in the air. And anyone associated with him made the boys wary. 

Cherish walked onto the stage in a pair of thigh high boots and a short, tight red dress. The curls of her platinum blonde wig bounced as she moved. 

They watched as Cherish continued to dance and lip-sync to the Britney Spears classic. She moved from one end of the stage with the grace of a horse. There was no emotion in her eyes and her movements lacked polish. Some of the audience members covered their mouths as they yawned. Taeyong looked over and saw Ten’s eyes glazed over and Joshua looking down at his phone. 

“This performance is like oatmeal,” Ten said as Cherish attempted a split. 

“What does that even mean?” Joshua asked without looking up from his phone.

“It means it’s boring and a chore to get through,” Ten explained as though his analogy made perfect sense. 

Cherish strutted to the end of the stage and fell to her knees and flashed a big smile. The music cut and the crowd clapped after she finished. Cherish bowed before wobbling off stage in her too high heels. 

The next performers were not memorable. Two of them performed the same song and neither of them were interesting. During one performance, the boys played Rock, Papers, Scissors to see who would get refills. Ten lost and had to get drinks for the group.

He walked back to the table holding three drinks just as the performer walked off of the stage. Placing the cups in front of his friends, Hope Fall walked back on stage.

“Wasn’t she dazzling?” Hope asked and was received with scattered claps in response. “Our next performer holds infinite talents and show-stopping looks. Everyone welcome Infiniti Eight.” The crowd clapped as Hope walked off stage. The lights switched to a cold blue color and Infiniti Eight stepped onto the stage in all her long-legged glory. The first notes of Alejandro by Lady Gaga played as Infiniti moved to the music. Her moments were graceful and familiar to Joshua and felt like he’d seen the outfit before.

Joshua‘s suspicions were confirmed when he found the people he was looking for. He turned to Ten and smacked him on the arm. Ten turned to him with a glare.

“What?” Ten whispered.

“I know her,” Joshua said pointing to the stage. 

“How?” Ten asked.

“She’s roommates with the guy that helps make my costumes. I also helped her with that routine,” Joshua said.

Joshua got to know Infiniti Eight or Minghao, as he’s known outside of drag, through a mutual friend. Minghao was roommates with Mingyu, who helped Joshua create his costumes. Minghao had expressed an interest in doing drag and Joshua would sometimes do his makeup when he went to their apartment.

Joshua felt a weird sense of pride as he watched Infiniti sashay across the stage in her black cape and lace leotard. She moved with such elegance. In everyday life, Minghao was a tall, thin young man with a love for expressing himself through fashion. His roommate usually teased him for having skinny legs, but tonight those legs went on for miles and looked amazing. 

When her performance ended, Joshua stood to his feet and clapped. Infiniti bowed and strutted off the stage. Hope Fall stepped back on stage and announced a brief intermission.

“I need them to hurry and let Jungwoo perform before he bolts,” Taeyong said anxiously, as the dim lights brightened. Joshua stood up from the table and made his way over to the table where Minghao’s friends sat.

Joshua saw a familiar tall figure standing up as he got closer to the table. He followed him to the bar and smacked his shoulder. Mingyu whipped around and stared down at Joshua.

“What are you doing here?” Mingyu asked.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Joshua said as he raised an eyebrow.  “Why didn’t you tell me Minghao was performing?” Mingyu shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away.

“He looks up to you and didn’t want to have you here if he ended up failing,” Mingyu said with a shrug and shy smile

“But he didn’t fail. He was the best performer of the night so far,” Joshua said, beaming. “And his outfit was amazing,” Mingyu smiled with pride at the costume being complimented; Joshua’s grin was infectious.

“I can’t take all the credit. Minghao came up with the initial idea. I just sewed it all together,” Mingyu said dismissively, like designing costumes and putting them together was easy. “He wanted extra length on the train of the cape, but I told him it would get in the way. I’m glad he listened.”

“Who else showed up to cheer on Infiniti Eight?” Joshua asked. In response, Mingyu walked Joshua over to the table he had been sitting at with his friends, placed his drink on the table, and sat down. Joshua sat in an empty seat.

“What are you doing here?” Jun, Minghao’s sort of boyfriend, asked. Jun was a tall young man with a feline face and mischievous smile. 

“One of my roommates knows someone who is performing tonight. We originally came to see his friend, but imagine my surprise when I saw Minghao!” Joshua exclaimed as he gestured to the now empty stage and back to his friends. 

“Wasn’t he amazing?” Jun gushed.

“Minghao could run someone over with his car and you’d think it was the most amazing thing in the world,” Wonwoo, Mingyu’s boyfriend and Joshua’s friend, joked. Joshua looked around the table again and saw Soonyoung, another drag queen, sitting next to Wonwoo. Soonyoung turned his head away from Joshua.

“Was I the only person in this friendship group who didn’t know about Minghao performing?” Joshua asked. He looked around the table and saw guilty faces.

“Well, Vernon didn’t know,” Soonyoung said under his breath. Joshua rolled his eyes. Vernon was their youngest friend who always seemed to be in his own world. 

“Did you tell Vernon?” Wonwoo asked.

“I told him but he had his earbuds in so he probably didn’t hear me,” Soonyoung explained with a shrug and weak smile. 

“So technically you aren’t the only one who didn’t know,” Mingyu said with a shrug. Joshua shook his head with a sigh. No use getting too worked up. He’d already seen Minghao perform, even if Minghao didn’t want him to see. 

The group of friends continued talking until intermission was over. Joshua made his way over to his table and saw that Taeyong was typing furiously on his phone.

“Who’s he texting?” Joshua asked once he sat down.

“It’s the group message for one of his classes. They’re trying to get him to take on another part of the project they have to turn in,” Ten explained.

“He’s already doing most of the research and writing. What more do they want him to do?” Joshua couldn’t understand how people could be so quick to take advantage of another person’s kindness.

Taeyong sighed loudly as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. He turned to his friends and rolled his eyes.

“While I was texting those idiots, Jungwoo messaged me and said he’d be going second to last,” Taeyong said.

“I hope the acts before him are at least slightly interesting,” Ten said. Taeyong laughed at his friend's remark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! Leave a kudos and a comment. Your kind words keep me motivated.


	3. Reveals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a lot of pronoun switching, so while in drag they will use female pronouns while out of drag it'll be male pronouns. 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!!!!!!!

Hope Fall walked back onstage after an intermission in a blue sequin dress with a slit up the leg. She stopped in the middle of the stage and eyed the crowd sultrily.

“I hope everyone refilled their drinks. We still have three great performances left. Our next performer will show you that losing is never an option. Welcome to the stage Winwin!” Hope Fall announced with a smile. The audience clapped as the stage lights turned red and an oriental beat played. Winwin glided onto the stage and swayed to the music. The soft oriental instrumental faded away and a thumping bass line replaced it. The sequin of his red leotard caught the light as he moved across the stage.

Winwin moved with the grace of a ballerina and the confidence of someone who’d been dancing for years. The audience stared at Winwin with bright eyes and slack jaws. The movements of Winwin’s body seemed to lure the audience into a trance.

“She’s amazing,” Taeyong shouted to Ten over the music. Ten didn’t even move his eyes off the stage as he nodded his head. Onstage, Winwin continued to wow the crowd with turns and an impressive split. The crowd was silent as she finished her performance by kick up her leg and holding it close to her ear. The crowd went wild. As the music faded, Winwin dropped the leg and bowed before scurrying off stage.

“I see that Winwin just  _ wonwon _ you all over,” Hope joked as she came back onto stage while she laughed at her own joke. The audience gave scattered laughter at the joke, but the lukewarm response didn’t shake Hope Fall. “We have come to our last performances of the night.”

“I hope Jungwoo makes it on stage,” Taeyong said with his fingers crossed. He knew Jungwoo said he’d perform, but Taeyong still felt uncertain. It didn’t take much to send the younger boy running.

“Relax. Jungwoo will step onstage and perform with all he’s got,” Ten reassured as he patted Taeyong on the shoulder.

“Our next performer is sweeter than sugar and finer than wine. Let’s give a warm welcome to Jiwoo,” said Hope, finishing her clever introduction. The stage lights turned off and the room was silent, the only sound being the powerful click of heels against the stage floor. The lights of the stage switched back on as the first beat of the song played. Jiwoo smiled at the crowd before winking. The poppy beat of Side to Side by Ariana Grande played as Jiwoo shook her hips to the music.

The size of Jiwoo’s backside distracted Ten. The few times Ten met Jiwoo in person he didn’t notice the boy’s butt being that big.

“Did he pad the butt?” Ten asked Taeyong as he looked at Jiwoo’s butt in her faux leather hot pants.

“I told him to tone it down, so that’s toned down. Before I helped him, the padding was sticking out of his shorts and I couldn’t let him walk onstage like that,” Taeyong gestured to Jiwoo on the stage. Jiwoo walked to the end of the stage,blew kisses to the audience, and winked at one guy in the audience before gliding away from the edge of the stage and dancing again. She didn’t move with the grace of Infiniti or the precision and presence of Winwin, but Jiwoo had spirit and charm out the ass. What she didn’t have in technique, she made up for.

A few of Jiwoo’s attempts at turns ended with her stumbling, but she turned to the crowd with an embarrassed smile before strutting off stage. The crowd laughed, but not meanly because she could make the mistakes look like part of the act. Jiwoo finished her performance with her back to the audience and a wink over her shoulder. As the music faded, Jiwoo turned to the audience and bowed, before running off stage. The audience cheered and applauded.

“I think Jiwoo surprised the audience,“ Joshua said with a smile as Hope Fall strutted back onstage. 

“That didn’t go as planned, but at least she performed,” Taeyong exhaled as Jiwoo walked off the stage. 

“Wasn’t she adorable? Maybe we’ll see more of Jiwoo, but that’s in our judges’ hands,” Hope said as she gave a suspicious look to the audience. The crowd whispered among themselves at the mention of the hidden judges. “But before we get our results, we have one last performer…” Hope cut off the end of her sentence. 

The crowd began to whisper and shift in their seats as they waited for Hope to announce the last performer. Hope’s attempt to build suspense wasn’t working as she hoped.

“So please put your hands together for...Camille.” Camille strided onstage holding multiple hula hoops. The performance ended with several of the hula hoops dispersed around the stage and Camille holding a lone hoop.

“That was an interesting performance,” Hope Fall said in a measured voice as she stood center stage once more. “Now we’ve seen all the performances, we will take a brief break for our judges to deliberate. This also gives you time to change who you were betting on,” The crowd laughed before Hope walked off stage. People got up from their seats and head to the bar. A table next to them were trying to figure out who the hidden judges were.

“Who do you think will make the top four?” Ten asked as if he didn’t already know the answer.

“Is that a serious question?” Joshua replied incredulously, an eyebrow raised.

“I mean we may know two of the four, but there are still two spots left open,” Ten explained defensively There were two obvious standouts but everyone else was a toss-up.

“Who’s in the two you’re certain about?” Taeyong asked with his arms crossed over his chest. Joshua and Ten looked away. They didn’t know how to tell Taeyong that Jungwoo wasn’t in their top two, but he was a close third.

“Uh... well... Winwin is there,” Ten hesitated in telling the final person.

“Minghao is on my list,” Joshua said with a shrug before flipping the question around.  “What about you, Taeyong?” Joshua looked his friend in the eye as he asked causing Taeyong looked away.

“Those are good picks,” he mumbled. “There were so many great performers. I just hope Jungwoo is one of the top four. He’s worked so hard.” His response didn’t answer Joshua’s question, but they let it slide.

“If Winwin doesn’t make it, we riot,” Ten slammed his hand on the table, causing the people at the tables next to them to glare at them. Taeyong and Joshua laughed at his antics. The lights on the stage dimmed as Hope Fall walks onto stage and the bar quieted. A low drum roll played over the speakers as Hope stared out at the crowd. 

“We have received the results from the judges and they have decided the top four. Can our lovely performers come stand on stage?” The performers walked back onstage and stood in a line next to each other. The audience clapped as they stood on stage awaiting the results. Hope walked to center stage holding a glittery envelope. She turned to the performers, who stood behind her and gave them a reassuring smile.

Hope wanted to soften the blow many of the performers would be getting. “It took a lot of courage to stand this stage tonight and you all are beautiful and talented. However, we can only take four of you. I will announce the top four in no particular order. When I call you step forward,” The crowd waited for the first name in tense silence.

“GIve a warm welcome to Cherish Err, one of Hidden Happiness’ newest performers,” Cherish Er stepped forward and made a show of being surprised. She grabbed the mic with tears in her eyes.

“There were so many great girls tonight. I’m so happy and I would like to thank my mentor in drag, Hayden Treasure. I can’t believe we’ll be working together,” Cherish gushed as she gestured to Cory, a fellow drag queen,  sitting near the stage. After her speech, Cherish waved one last time before stepping back into line. Hope looked down at her envelope again and smiled before announcing the next name.

“Welcome our newest performer… Jiwoo!” Taeyong shot to his feet and clapped. He looked like he won the position. Jiwoo looked around in confusion as other performers congratulated her. She pointed to herself and Hope nodded before she stepped forward. “You look so shocked.”

“I am. I didn’t think I would make it and I almost didn’t perform tonight but with the help of my friend, Taeyong I could do my best,” Jiwoo said sincerely. “And I will continue working hard and show better performances,” Jiwoo said with conviction. Taeyong clapped even louder at the quick speech. With a smile, Jiwoo stepped back into line.

“I’m so happy for her. We need to work on confidence though,” Taeyong said with a look of determination.

“Are you going to put him through drag boot camp?” Ten was only joking, but Taeyong seemed to think it was a great idea. “I wasn’t serious,” Taeyong looked at Ten with bright eyes before pulling out his phone and typing.

“I know you weren’t, but it’s a great idea. I can bring Jungwoo and Joshua can bring Minghao. We can help them grow as entertainers and we could have it at our apartment,” Taeyong rambled. Joshua and Ten could see the wheels in his head working overtime.

“We’re still growing as performers. How are we supposed to help them?” Joshua didn’t see how they could provide any useful information to a performer. Just last week, he almost refused to perform because of a rip in his stockings. 

“We can pass on wisdom and tips, like a drag mentor,” Taeyong said with stars in his eyes.

“Let’s open a whole drag mentorship program. Take in young princesses and build them up into queens. And when they’re finished with the program, we release them into drag kingdom,” Ten proposed with a laugh. Taeyong did not appreciate his friends’ teasing. He turned back to the stage and ignored the laughing in his ear, huffing slightly that he wasn’t being taken seriously.

“We only have two spots left. I know you all are on the edge of your seats, so I’ll announce it now. Our third new regular is... Winwin!” Hope read the name from the card and he crowd erupted into applause and cheers as Winwin stepped up to Hope. “You seem to be a crowd favorite. How does that make you feel?” Hope said, shoving the mic into Winwin’s face.

“I’m...happy people enjoyed my performance. I worked hard on it and I wanted to show off who I was as a performer,” Winwin answered in an almost robotic tone before stepping back.

“A woman of few words,” Hope joked before getting serious again. 'So we’ve come to the final performer in our top four. Who do you think is filling the final spot?” Hope asked with a smile before she turned the microphone to the audience. Random people in the audience seemed to have waited for that moment. 

“Camille! Daisee! Mitzy!” The audience shouted several names.

“We all know who’s filling that final spot,” Joshua said to his friends with certainty. It seemed others in the room agreed as shouts for Infiniti rang out from various parts of the room. Some of the louder shouts of her name came from the table filled with their friends.

“Infiniti Eight rounds out our top four.” Infiniti stepped forward and bowed. Joshua clapped excitedly as Infiniti grabbed the mic. He didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself since Infiniti didn’t know he was there. 

“You all seem eager for your favorite to take the last spot. Sadly, only one can stand in this final spot and the queen rounding out the top four is…” Hope said before pulling the mic away from her mouth and slowly opening the envelope in her hand. She looked at the name on the card and gasped dramatically into the mic. The crowd began to get restless. 

“Tell us. Come on,” The audience urged before Hope put the mic back to her mouth.

“Our fourth and final position goes to...Infiniti Eight!” She shouted. Infiniti walked over to Hope and stood next to her. “Do you have anything you would like to say?” Hope asked before handing the mic over. 

“I want to thank the judges for picking me and I want the other performers to know that they are talented and beautiful. I’ll do my best to show new and exciting sides of myself,” Infiniti said before giving a quick bow before stepping back into line. 

“And there you have it, our newest performers. I hope everyone will show them support as they become familiar faces at Hidden Happiness. We look forward to seeing all of your faces again. Have a good night,” Hope said with a bright smile before herding the drag queens offstage. They walked into the crowd as people applauded them and some people stopped to take pictures. At the sight of her friends, Jiwoo walked over to their table with teary eyes. Taeyong stood up and grabbed a napkin to dab away the tears. 

“Why are you crying? You did great,” Taeyong asked as he wiped away her tears.

“They’re happy tears, I promise. I didn’t think I’d make it after I fell out of my turn,” Jiwoo answered as Taeyong tried to keep her makeup from smudging.

“You were...entertaining, unlike some other performers,” Ten reassured as looked around at some other performers. “At least you didn’t dance to Toxic.” 

Joshua wanted to reassure his crying friend, but he also didn’t want to lie and said Jiwoo’s performance was great. There were performers would do better than she did, but her saving grace was charisma and it didn’t hurt that she was really cute. 

“You may not have done how you wanted to, but you won the judges over. Now you just have to learn from this performance,” Joshua said as he hoped his words helped more than hurt. Ten nodded in agreement with his roommate but gave Jiwoo a pat on the shoulder. Jiwoo sniffled before she started fanning away the tears that fell from her eyes.

“You are right. I need to prove that I deserve my spot. This is the last performance that I fall during and forget the steps to,” Jiwoo declared in a shaky voice. Joshua and Taeyong didn’t want to add on to Jiwoo’s stress, but Ten had always been more of rip the bandaid off type of person.

“Oh...you’re definitely going to fall again,” Ten said with a shrug. Taeyong glared at his friend for his abrasive words. “But...it’s all about how you...get up?” Ten grimaced as Taeyong kept glaring at him and Jiwoo got misty-eyed again. Joshua decided to remove himself from the conversation and snuck away to find Infiniti. 

He navigated his way through the crowd and saw Infiniti trying to move through the crowd of people trying to get her attention. Once close enough, Joshua tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped at the sudden touch.

“What?” Infiniti whipped around and looked down at Joshua. Joshua watched as Infiniti looked away bashfully. The heavy makeup kept Joshua from seeing the blush that worked its way across Infiniti’s face. 

“Surprised to see me?” Joshua asked with a knowing smirk. “If I hadn’t come with my roommate, I wouldn’t have seen you perform. I could have missed such an amazing performance.” Joshua’s voice was stern but the quick humor in his voice gave away his true intentions and conveyed his congratulations. Infiniti avoided Joshua’s gaze before answering him.

“I wanted you to see me at my best and I didn’t think I’d do that well,” Infiniti mumbled self-consciously. 

“I still would have wanted to see you perform even if it wasn’t your best. I’ve been watching you put together routines and costumes for this from day one and you didn‘t even invite me,” Joshua wasn’t trying to guilt Minghao, but it hurt nonetheless that his friends didn’t tell him about the performance.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Infiniti pouted. It was funny to see her pouting while still in drag. Overdrawn lips curved down while false eyelashes framed her sad artificial blue eyes.

“I couldn’t stay mad at you, Haohao,” Joshua said before hugging his friend. Minghao cringed at the use of his childhood nickname. “I’m also glad you listened to Mingyu and didn’t go with a longer train,” Minghao laughed at the change of subject.

“I wanted it to be more dramatic, but it turned out okay,” Minghao said as he gestured to the cape and lace leotard he had on. “And Jun did my makeup because my hands were shaking too much for me to do it myself. I would have impaled myself with my eyeliner...or worse, conjunctivitis.” Minghao shuddered, “Do the nerves ever get better?” Joshua thought about it. Joshua wished he could tell Minghao they magically disappeared but knew it wasn’t true.

“The nerves never go away but you will learn how to deal with them. I’ve been doing this for two years but I still get butterflies before stepping onto the stage, but you can use that and channel it into something different,” Joshua explained. Minghao didn’t look reassured.

“Thanks for that,” Minghao said, sarcasm clear.

“You know I’m not great at on-the-spot pep talks. If you wanted a good pep talk, you should’ve gone to Soonyoung.” Soonyoung, a mutual friends as well as a drag queen at Hidden Happiness, gave energetic pep talks that turned into unintelligible shouting. But his pep talks or shouting had a weird way of helping. As if being summoned by his name, Soonyoung walked over and threw his arms around Minghao. Soonyoung’s pressed his chubby cheek against the side Minghao’s face as he cooed at the younger boy.

“Hao, you were amazing and you looked absolutely sickening,” Soonyoung said as he released the younger boy, “It’s going to be great working with you, but don’t forget your place.” Soonyoung looked Minghao straight in the eyes when he said this. Minghao looked taken aback at the change in tone and didn’t know how to respond. 

“Uh...thanks?” Minghao answered confused. Soonyoung seemed unaffected by the severity of his comment and went back to gushing about Minghao’s performance. Taking the chance, Joshua slipped away from his friends and headed back to his roommates. After joining his friends, who were waiting by the door, they walked out of the bar with a wave to Dominic. 

“See you guys this weekend,” Dominic said gruffly as they passed by him. 

“See you then,” Taeyong said back. The start of their walk began in silence until they began to recap the night of performances. 

“Maybe I should incorporate hula hooping into my routine,” Ten joked as he mimed hula hooping. They walked down the bar lined street that led to the subway station and began to feel the grips of wariness catch up to them. The excitement of the night coupled with the late hour seemed like the perfect recipe for drowsiness. 

On the ride home, Ten’s head fell onto Joshua’s shoulder while Taeyong stared out the subway car. 

“Tonight was fun,” Ten mumbled. His roommates nodded in agreement. “We have four more people added to our roster, which means backstage is going to get a bit more crowded,” Ten rambled as he tried to keep himself awake. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing how they fit in,” Joshua mused. 

“This also means we have to step things up. This means there are more people we have to set ourselves apart from,” Ten said. His words hung heavy between them. The other two hadn’t thought about it in that way, but his words held truth to them. If the audience didn’t find you entertaining any longer, you could kiss your spot goodbye. They’d seen it happen to older drag queens at Hidden Happiness and other bars. They had to keep evolving and getting better or they could kiss their jobs goodbye. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed the story leave a comment and a kudos!!!! I thrive off of validation, so please tell me what you liked or what you didn't like. Tell me what's you're looking forward to.


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